Field Tests

When it comes to cameras, I’m a big believer in the right tool for the job approach. Until recently, models in the Leica roster seemed purpose-built for different types of photography. An M for street and reportage. An S for landscape and studio. But, with adv...

Ever since Leica announced that they were reissuing the 28mm Summaron-M, I could’t wait to get my hands on one. I love classic Leica glass. The feel of the images. The vintage styling on the front of my M. The connection with history and legend. There’s just s...

A question that keeps coming up again and again is whether people should be shooting with M lenses or the 24-90 zoom on the Leica SL (Typ 601). A lot of Leica photographers have shied away from the zoom due to the feeling that it is too big, too heavy, or lack...

Film is making a resurgence. Whether this is the final gasp of air or a new breath of life has yet to be determined. While big names like Kodak and Fuji are cutting production of once iconic photographic mediums, and labs across the country are closing their d...

In July, I had a unique opportunity to test out the new Leica S (Typ 007). During brainstorming about where to go to try out the new camera, the universe kept pushing me to go to Iceland. So, with some degree of spontaneity, I decided to take the plunge.Th...

During my testing of the new Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) in NYC and New Orleans, I was blown away by the camera's high ISO ability, so I wanted to see how it stacked up against the original M Monochrom based off of the M9, as well as the Leica M (Typ 240) when...

The results are in! Thanks so much to everyone who cast their votes in both Part 1 and Part 2 of this experiment.The ExperimentTo recap, I was testing the theory that images from a Leica CCD-based camera have a unique and instantly identifiable look an...

Make sure you read and vote on Part 1 of the Great Debate: CCD vs. CMOS before venturing on to this test.In the first installment, I published various sets of images, each containing one shot from the Leica M9 and one from the Leica M (Typ 240). The premis...

Since the Leica M (Typ 240) was introduced, there's been an ongoing debate regarding the merits of CCD vs. CMOS sensors. From a technological and marketing viewpoint, Leica needed to make the move from CCD to CMOS in order to offer live view and better low lig...

Wikipedia defines “Bokeh (usually pronounced Boc-ah) as the blur or aesthetic quality of the blur, in the out-of-focus areas of an image. The term comes from the Japanese word boke, which means “blur” or “haze” or boke-aji (blur quality). It is also defined ...

"OK, now I am going to remove the 35mm f/1.4 Summilux Aspherical and put on the 35mm f/1.4 Summilux FLE ASPH.” Not a sentence that I speak frequently, however thanks to the generosity of a few friends of ours, I was able to compare these two iconic Leica lense...

While I had the Leica M Monochrom for testing in Germany, I figured I'd do a quick semi-controlled ISO test compared to my M9. I had certain impressions of relative ISO performance during my review of the M Monochrom, but nothing beats a side-by-side test. Bef...